A former secretary at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), John Ogah, on Wednesday told the Ikeja Special Offences Court how the immediate past governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele, allegedly directed payment of money into his niece’s bank account.
Mr Emefiele is standing trial for abuse of office and $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion fraud while in office.
He is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Mr Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Omoile, is standing trial on three counts bordering on unlawful acceptance of gifts by agents.
Mr Ogah, the sixth prosecution witness, continued to give evidence on Wednesday. He was led in evidence by EFCC counsel Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).
According to him, one Hannah Emefiele is the first defendant’s niece.
He told the court that he (Mr Ogah) instructed an account officer to pay money into Ms Hannah’s bank account on the instruction of Mr Emefiele.
The witness said all emails he sent to the bank account officer and instructions given were as directed by Mr Emefiele.
Mr Ogah said: “I have the instructions of my boss to send the emails to the account officer, and all the instructions he gave were carried out.
“Hannah Emefiele is a niece to my boss. Hannah is one the beneficiaries of the fund because my boss gave instructions through emails, which I forwarded to the account officer,” Mr Ogah said.
However, Mr Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), queried the relevance of mentioning Ms Hannah’s name.
Mr Ojo argued that Ms Hannah’s name was not mentioned anywhere in the charge. He also claimed that EFCC included the name in the course of giving evidence.
In response, EFCC counsel Mr Oyedepo argued that although Ms Hannah was not mentioned in the charge, she was alleged to have benefitted from the proceeds of the alleged fraud.
“The name came up because some of the proceeds are traceable to some of the relatives of the first defendant,” he said.
During cross-examination by Mr Emefiele’s counsel, the witness told the court that he kept records while working as the former governor’s secretary.
He said the records were for reference purposes.
Mr Ojo asked the witness if he showed the records to EFCC. The witness said he did not show any documents to the anti-graft agency.
According to him, 99 per cent of the instructions he received from Mr Emefiele were not in writing.
(NAN)